The Spurs wouldn't trade Tony Parker for what he has said or hasn't said. They wouldn't trade him for what he did or didn't do with a former teammate's wife.

But if something happens tonight, and the Spurs take more risk than they ever have in the Gregg Popovich era, Parker's stature will ease the reaction.

San Antonio would miss Parker, but not as much as the city should.

According to various reports, the Spurs have targeted someone in the draft. They think he will be there at No. 5, when Toronto picks, or at No. 7, when Sacramento does.

That could be Klay Thompson of Washington State, or he could be part of a larger package. Furthermore, the Spurs could be doing something else entirely, such as trying to trade George Hill, because they have a history of hiding what they are doing.

The 2005 draft told of that. Then, so they could talk freely in public about Ian Mahinmi, they gave Mahinmi an alias. "John Mason," they called him.

During the Finals that season, just a week before the Spurs drafted Mahinmi, an Express-News article carried this headline: "When you're talking 'Detroit basketball,' you're talking John Mason."

The story was about the Pistons' public-address announcer, John Mason.

Given that, who knows what to make of the Spurs now? Buford said Wednesday, for example, "We're not shopping anyone."

Buford wasn't as emphatic as the Suns' president, who flatly said Phoenix won't trade Steve Nash. Besides, others around the league have said nearly every Spurs player has come up in trade discussions except for Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

Parker is the most prominent, and that should be no surprise. The Spurs were open a year ago to change before deciding to keep the group together.

Even after they signed Parker last fall, some in the organization said the new contract made it easier to trade him. Instead of Parker being able to dictate his destination because free agency gave him leverage, as it was with Carmelo Anthony, the Spurs are free to trade him anywhere.

But it's not as if the Spurs have wanted to trade him. They like him and they've won with him. Instead, he simply remains what he said he was as recently as last month.

"If they have a player they can trade," he told reporters in France, "it is clearly me."

That's when Parker also announced the Spurs were no longer good enough to win a title. While both Popovich and Buford shook their heads at those comments, they would never trade him for something like that.

Instead, the usual factors would be involved. Money is one; talent another.

Trading Parker could clear up some cap space, for example. But this mostly comes back to a debate within the franchise about what should come next. The Spurs' staff has been split on whether the loss to Memphis was a blip or whether they need to make dramatic changes.

Why not gamble now? Parker, already with a decade of wear, won't always be as coveted.

The move would be bold and one that could backfire. Hill has not shown he's ready to be a full-time point guard.

It's also the kind of risk the Spurs have never taken under Popovich. They would be betting that they see something in a weak draft that others don't see — while trading a franchise cornerstone.

For the fan base, such a deal should trigger some anger. Parker arrived as a teenager and literally grew up in San Antonio.

Parker earned some sentiment, too. He changed the franchise from the day he arrived.

But, next to Duncan and Ginobili, he's been the third wheel of the "Big Three." And when he said a few things he shouldn't have said, or did a few things he shouldn't have done?

Goodbye, if it comes tonight, won't be as difficult as it could have been.